


Not Destiny

by dubstep44



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-09
Updated: 2012-02-09
Packaged: 2017-10-30 20:49:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/335910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dubstep44/pseuds/dubstep44
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin isn't one for secrets, but some truths sit uneasy the morning after one-night-stand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> also posted on livejournal: http://dubstep44.livejournal.com/668.html

Merlin woke to the awkward near-quiet of the flat after a night out when your shag was up before you and looking at the photos on the wall you'd been meaning to take off years ago and the mess between fridge and counter that you were vowing to clean every week but left anyway.

"Care for a tea?" he asked as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and stepped into the kitchen. The shag was studying the notes on his pinboard (cab numbers, take-away menues, doctors' appointments, the reminder to pick up his meds).

"I'd fancy that." Posh. RP and all.

Merlin fancied him, even in the light of early Sunday morning. Blond and built he was his type, probably wore a suit by day and never got his hands dirty. He looked interested as well, wearing his shirt from the night before but eyeing Merlin with enough interest that the night had every chance of extending into a lazy Sunday noon.

The train rolled past across the road, shapes blurring into colour, as Merlin put the kettle on, put teabags into cups because class rarely visited his place.

"What do you do then?" the shag asked. He sat at the counter, pulled an apple from the basket and crunched down on it. The juice escaped his lips. Merlin watched him wipe it away with a sheepish grin like he'd wiped Merlin's come from his face a few hours ago.

" _Developing my skills for a changing market_ ," Merlin said as he poured, tone dead-pan. He shrugged. "I walk down to the job centre once a week."

"Ah." 

"You?"

"Office job."

Merlin nodded as he poured the water and guessed a 50k+ income. "Milk?"

"Yes, please."

Merlin shook the carton before pouring. He had his fingers crossed and the milk did come out still edible.

They sipped their tea. The shag was looking around his flat, Merlin was looking at the shag. They'd been better naked, with condoms and poppers, once they'd figured out whose hole would get it. 

Merlin ran a hand through his hair. "You live out far?"

"North," the shag said. Arthur, Merlin remembered. Arthur had already been hoarse and plastered when he'd shouted it to Merlin over the beat of the bass.

"Nice."

"Pretty much." Arthur sipped his tea like he enjoyed it even as he glanced around Merlin's flat as if studying abstract art. Another train thundered past. Arthur stared, while trying not to, at the set of photos on the fridge.

"My daughter," Merlin said, not waiting for the question.

Pause, then "Ah." Dejected.

"My ex will bring her by later."

Arthur nodded and managed to look faintly interested with it as he drank the last of his tea a little faster than he'd had the first half, the investment cooling from sexual to polite extraction.

"She's two," Merlin said because he couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his life. Arthur didn't look the type to understand the dole, waiting with a one year old in A&E and crying yourself blotchy with frustration when the nurse passed by yet another time. "She's brilliant."

Pause. "I imagine," Arthur said eventually, rolling his cup on the counter for a moment. "Ah, do you see her often?" 

"Twice a month." Merlin reached for the kettle. "Care for another?"

"No. No, thanks." Arthur's smile strained at the corners. The one he'd given Merlin when Merlin had dropped to his knees and pulled down his zip had been brighter and needier. Last night they'd both been in the same league. This morning, with the single-glaze windows and the cracking paint, the trains right outside his window, Merlin didn't even need to bother to get his cock out. 

"I should get going," Arthur said. "So you can... well, I'll leave you to your Sunday." 

Merlin poured himself another tea as Arthur had a piss and a quick wash from the sounds of it, then got dressed in last night's neon bright shirt and tight jeans which likely cost more than Merlin had in a month to get by.

"I'll be seeing you around then?"

Arthur patted himself down for his phone, got it out to check the time, then pocketed it again. "Sure, sure. Thanks for last night. And the tea." He nodded at his abandoned cup and the half-eaten apple on the counter.

"Any time. Cheers." Arthur gave him a wave and made his way out of Merlin's flat.

Merlin watched him from the window as he hurried across the road to the tube station and disappeared inside, muscles moving under his shirt, tight ass filling out his jeans. Then he cleaned up his cup and contemplated a shower before Aithusa would spew all over him at lunch anyway.

He ate the rest of Arthur's apple, imagining he was tasting destiny. Maybe he should have asked for his number, but this was life, not a fairytale. He didn't have the time to wait around for wonders when a shag did the trick every so often.


End file.
